Combat Trauma in the American Civil War

When Civil War soldiers 'saw the elephant,' as they called going into action, some of them sustained injuries they could not name. Wounds to the mind left them open to imputations of malingering, allegations of cowardice or charges of desertion. For the Union army had no label like shell shock, battle fatigue or post- traumatic stress disorder to help explain and legitimise a mysterious condition, no category short of lunacy to account for peculiar behaviour. In late November l864, for instance, Captain J. McEntire, a provost marshal, wrote of Private William Leeds, a prisoner in his charge:

He has been strolling about in the woods, and has procured his food from soldiers... He has a severe cut on his nose and his eyes arc in mourning for the loss of his character.

 This article is available to History Today online subscribers only. If you are a subscriber, please log in.

Please choose one of these options to access this article:

• Purchase a online subscription and receive unlimited access to our archive for one week, one month or a year


• Purchase a print and website subscription, giving you one year's access to all our content and 12 editions of History Today magazine.


• If you are already a print subscriber, purchase the online archive upgrade for a year's worth of access at a reduced price

Call our Subscriptions department on +44 (0)20 3219 7813 for more information.

If you are logged in but still cannot access the article, please contact us